2010 Edge w/red flags

[billyfsu]

Hi! New to the site and am looking at buying an Edge. Found a 2010 Edge SEL with 16k miles and the owner had it for about 3 months. Its at an honda dealer, and they just got it in a week ago. It was posted on the internet, but when we got there to look at it, it was in the shop being prepared. They pulled it around and the car looked to be in good shape but clearly not detailed/cleaned after it was traded-in. We noticed during the test drive the driver side airbag cover (on the steering wheel) was a bit cockeyed and there was a noticeable gap on one side of the gap. The salesman assured us it had not been in an accident and produced a clean carfax. I had immediate red flags go up seeing this alongside the pretty short first owner history with the car. I know carfax is not a 100% gauge if things are not reported.

 

Does anyone know of a valid reason why the airbag cover would be askew? I have another option at another dealership thats a few years older but in better shape (2008 Limiited) and similar mileage. Thanks!

[jeff_h]

We noticed during the test drive the driver side airbag cover (on the steering wheel) was a bit cockeyed and there was a noticeable gap on one side of the gap.

 

See the linked article below, which states that over 50,000 airbags are stolen from cars each year, and that one may not know if until they get into a crash and there is no airbag in place to deploy. Who knows if this has anything to do with the car you looked at, but when you noted the cockeyed airbag cover that's the first thing I thought about.

 

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/car-driving-safety/safety-regulatory-devices/airbag-theft.htm

[billyfsu]

I was going to give them the benefit of the doubt and thought maybe we interrupted their inspection process that included checking for a missing airbag, but the 16k miles in 3 months made me suspicious. We ended up getting a good deal on a low mileage 08 limited and closed the deal today. Very happy thus far!

[JOEHIO]

:yup:

SMart decision, ENJOY your new set of wheels. Yes, 16K is way too many miles for a 3 month old car.

Heck, that would come to 64K a year. Where the hell did they drive too ?

[igcitng]

You cannot depend on Carfax. That car sounds like it was wrecked. I had an accident in July of 2008 that I reported to the state and in Feb of 2009 it did not show up when I traded it in. My July 2007 accident did but not July 2008. And it is true that a car is never the same after it is wrecked so likely why it was turned in, cutting their losses early.